Notre Dame survives St. Ignatius
7th shooter LaHood sends Irish to AA state finals
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Past Novembers have featured plenty of big victories in the LaHood family.
Friday afternoon, McKay LaHood, of Notre Dame (Peoria) used the soccer ball instead of the ballot box to make his impact.
LaHood, whose father Darrin faces re-election Tuesday to the U.S. House of Representatives, provided a prelude to that likely victory party by igniting a celebration for the Irish (23-2-0) in the Class AA semifinals against St. Ignatius (16-8-0).
In a penalty kick session dominated by goalkeepers Alec Beckwith, of St. Ignatius, and Kevin Wiles, Notre Dame (who saw half of the 14 shots become unsuccesful), seventh shooter LaHood’s PK finish finally earned the Irish a 4-3 edge in the session and a berth in the state title game at 1 p.m. Saturday against Crystal Lake South.
“A couple of guys missed, and I knew I had to step up,” said LaHood, whose PK conversion ended a streak of four-straight unsuccessful tries by the two teams. “But a big shout out to Kev (Wiles). He’s been our backup goalie and came up huge making three saves (in PKs). That was unbelievable.”
An October injury to Lucas Fontana shifted ex-forward Wiles into the role of goalkeeper, a position he had played as a sophomore.
Friday, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Wiles did it all in the PK session. As a shooter, he converted for a 3-2 Irish lead. And he allowed only three of seven Wolfpack PKs past, with diving saves on the last two shooters.
“I’m confident in the direction I go,” Wiles said, “and if I guess it, I’m definitely going to get to the ball and make that save.
“I have a good goalie coach in Mark Streid, and me and our other goalie Charlie Lawless have been working really hard. Hard work pays off I guess.”
St. Ignatius battled hard to earn its first trip to the state semifinals in five years. Facing a talented Irish team that has won three state titles since 2008, the Wolfpack overcame a rough start to produce a marquee performance.
Notre Dame came inches from grabbing the lead six minutes in when a cross to the box sprung loose and a Declan Dillon shot towards an open net was cleared off the goal line by St. Ignatius senior defender Jack Galante.
Surviving that scare, the Wolfpack took a 1-0 lead with 22:30 left in the first half on Danny Fernandez’s rebound goal of Keith Bevans’ header off the crossbar.
And after Notre Dame drew even 93 seconds later on Noah Madrigal’s 40th goal of 2018, St. Ignatius stayed toe-to-toe with the Irish over the next 79 minutes of soccer (regulation and two overtimes) and the tight PK session.
“Our quote was ‘Play the team on the field, not the team’s reputation,’” Beckwith said of facing talented and tradition-rich Notre Dame, the top team in Chicagoland Soccer's Illinois 10 poll and nationally ranked at no. 8 by Top Drawer Soccer.
“We’re just high school kids playing high school kids. Just play the kids in front of you. And that’s exactly what we did. It seemed to work out pretty well for us.”
The highlight came on Fernandez’s seventh goal of the season.
That finish culminated a play that began with senior reserve Billy Kacey’s nice send to the box, which Bevans headed off the crossbar and Fernandez hustled to put away.
“Billy’s a guy who can play defense and wing,” St. Ignatius coach Ryan Kearns said. “He put that ball up for Keith and we were able to finish it on the second try. All these guys from 1-23 are quality guys, a pleasure to work with.
“We knew this was a game going down to the wire, where we would need legs towards the end. So we were using guys on the wings as much as possible, to try to exploit PND because they pushed their outside backs up so high.”
Besides Madrigal’s point-blank putaway at the right post off a Lucas Beebe diagonal send from the left side, Beckwith and the Wolfpack defense met every challenge all night.
“The fact that we’ve been playing together since sophomore year really helps our chemistry,” St. Ignatius senior defender Christian Telles said. “Alec really communicates well with us, and we really know how to build from the back up using our midfield.”
Limiting Madrigal’s chances was the main task.
“We played Solorio (in the sectional final), the defending state champion, and they had an attacker no. 7 (Alejandro Sanchez) that we focused on (in a 5-2 win),” Telles said.
“We knew their best player today was no. 10, so we just treated them like Solorio and basically got the job done.”
In an active first half for both sides, St. Ignatius’ offense nearly struck again 9:40 before halftime. Set up by passes from Chris Braman and then Jaden Rice, Fernandez’s 30-yard drive went off the crossbar.
Beckwith followed 25 seconds later with a diving save on a Madrigal 15-yarder, then made the stop on Brody Seaton’s 10-yard header flick 3:30 before the half.
“The first 5-10 minutes was rough for us,” Kearns said. “A lot of that was anxiety, and a lack of confidence that we could possess around a quality team like PND.
“Once we figured that out we were right back in the game, and when we scored first that gave us so much energy and momentum towards controlling the ball better the rest of the game. I thought we did a great job defensively, a great job through the midfield, and put a ton of pressure on their keeper.”
That pressure resumed with 27:05 left in the second half, when Telles’ strong left-footed 35-yard free kick deflected towards the net and required a leaping deflection over the crossbar by Wiles.
After Madrigal lined a 22-yard free kick wide left three minutes later, quality chances were few for either side the rest of regulation.
An Aidan Hurst two-hop try from distance with 19:20 left was the last Wolfpack shot on goal for over 15 minutes, a drought ended by Wiles’ catch at the post of a Hurst shot with 3:40 to play in regulation.
“Aidan is a heck of a player,” Kearns said. “When he’s at 100 percent and can put himself out there on the field, he really makes people look silly sometimes and is really smooth. And he’s only a sophomore too.”
The Wolfpack then nearly produced an incredible finish with just 2:05 left, when Bevans’ powerful back-to-the-goal bicycle kick on a cross sailed just wide of the right post.
“They were a great team,” Irish coach Mike Bare said of St. Ignatius. “Coming into it we talked to a couple different coaches and they said: they’re solid all over; they play really hard; they don’t make many mistakes; their goalkeeper is solid. And that’s what we saw tonight. Two really teams going at it.
“Offensively they were a lot to handle,” Bare added. “They have some really good athletes in no. 9 (Matt Griffin) and no. 15 (Bevans) up-top. We knew that coming into the game, and they caused us some problems.”
After 80 minutes of regulation, the two sides were tied 1-1 and just getting started in a marathon battle.
Beckwith and Wiles had matching saves from distance in the first 10-minute overtime.
In a more wide open second OT, Rice’s long send 40 seconds in set up a Griffin right side shot that rolled just wide of the left post for St. Ignatius. Then with 2:45 to go, Tal Malven’s nice send to the box set up a Bevans header that Wiles leaped to snare just under the crossbar near the right post.
Fernandez’s clear of an Irish corner kick with 10 seconds left produced the PK session, which was almost a game unto itself.
Notre Dame took a 3-2 lead after fourth shooter Wiles’ conversion. But Fernandez tied the session 3-3, and potential clinching shooter Madrigal’s try went wide right.
The PK battle moved to sudden death, with sixth shooter saves by both goalkeepers adding to the maximum drama.
“In penalties I think we had three chances to win it,” Bare said. “We had our best penalty shooter in Noah Madrigal, an all-American up for our fifth shot to win it.
“He never misses, but I think he may have seen the goalie (Beckwith) start to go that way. He maybe tried to tuck it even more to the corner and missed it wide.”
Coming off a supersectional shutout of Washington , Beckwith again showed incredible cool under pressure.
“I love PKss,” said Beckwith, whose team had won the Wolfpack’s only previous PK session this fall. “They’re my favorite part of soccer, especially with a crowd like today. If you make one save, they go nuts.
“It’s just like we do in practice. Get out there, make the save, cool, calm head, see what we can do to read them (the shooters) and do my thing.”
On to the seventh shooter, Wiles made another diving save to keep the session tied 3-3.
“He (Wiles) really surprised me on the penalties,” Kearns said. “He was a very good penalty keeper. He looked very clean, and even finished one as well.”
Said Bare: “Kevin was phenomenal. And he’s our backup who got moved into the starting role in early October when our starter injured his shoulder.
“He was our starting goalkeeper as a sophomore, then Lucas took that spot from him about midseason. Kevin had been playing as a field player ever since, then we transitioned him back to goal. It’s a really cool story for a kid who got his spot back because of an injury and made the most of it tonight.”
Beckwith had denied three of the last four Irish shooters, but seventh Notre Dame shooter LaHood’s high drive inside the right post ended the dramatic battle for a state finals berth.
We weren’t sure where things were going to go,” Bare said, “then we got a third opportunity to win it (in PKs) with McKay LaHood, and he was able to put it away.
Said Wiles: “Mac (LaHood) stepped up He scores a lot of goals for our team (13 this season).”
The win marked the first PK session of the year for the Irish.
“We always try to think we’re the better team when we walk in,” Wiles said. “We’re confident. We didn’t expect it would go all the way to pens (PK’s), but we’re confident in our pens. And some guys stepped up.”
From a family used to the long grind of fall political campaigns, LaHood cast soccer’s version of a deciding vote Friday.
“We just tried to play our style of play, but there was a lot of emotion in this game,” said LaHood, whose grandfather Ray also had a long career in Congress and later served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation. “In a state semifinal game that’s what is going to happen. We’re just happy to get the win.
“We play a really tough schedule throughout the year. We played Milwaukee Marquette, Naperville North. I feel like we’ve seen everything that can be thrown at us. That really prepares us for the postseason.”
As for St. Ignatius’ postseason, Friday’s narrow loss hardly dims the memories of an incredible ride – which continues one more time at 1 p.m. Saturday in the AA third place match.
“It’s been awesome,” Beckwith said. “First of all, we didn’t think coming into the season in general that state was even a possibility. On a night like tonight to be out there with all those people was magic.
“We didn’t get the result, but that’s alright. We’ll be out here tomorrow for third place, and it’s been awesome. I love playing with these guys. And this last game will be one to remember, to take home a trophy.”
Regardless of Friday’s outcome, Beckwith and the Wolfpack continued to impress their coach.
“Alec has this unique personality, to keep things calm and collected at all times,” Kearns said. “Even after the loss, he’s smiling, and he said ‘We were in it the whole time. There’s nothing else we could have done.’ He has a great mentality, a great approach to the game.
“I’m really proud of my guys. Nothing to be ashamed of, we played a really quality team right down to the end.”
As for Saturday, Kearns said the chance to be one of just two AA teams to finish 2018 with a win is all the motivation needed.
“We have a lot more to prove tomorrow,” he said. “I want to come out firing on all cylinders. These guys are something special, and I want to squeak out as much time as I can with them. An extra 80 minutes is a blessing.”
The Wolfpack graduated 13 seniors from their 2017 team, but this year's group of veteran leaders helped the program return to state prominence.
“We never really thought we’d make it to state," senior defender Christian Telles said. "We had a pretty rocky start (3-2 record after five games) because we didn’t really connect at the beginning.
"Then after a couple of games our chemistry really rose, and our younger kids (three sophomores and three juniors) really played mature during the state run. I’m really proud of them. Some of them had never played a varsity game before this year.”
Having survived Friday’s epic battle, Notre Dame has plenty of fuel left for its 1 p.m. state final test against Crystal Lake South.
“We’ll be good,” Wiles said. “It’s tough to not have enough energy to come out and play for a state title.”
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK Alec Beckwith
D Ethan Belnap
D Christian Telles
D Jack Galante
M Ronan Sullivan
M Daniel Fernandez
M Tal Malven
M Mark Kirby
M Jaden Rice
F Matt Griffin
F Keith Bevans
Notre Dame (Peoria)
GK Kevin Wiles
D Alex Kott
D Brody Seaton
D Michael Merheb
D Ethan Miller
M Jack Immesoete
M McKay LaHood
M Lucas Beebe
M Declan Dillon
F Jake Cusack
F Noah Madrigal
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Kevin Wiles, sr. GK, Notre Dame (Peoria)
Scoring summary
First half
SI – Daniel Fernandez (rebound), 18th minute
ND – Noah Madrigal (Lucas Beebe assist), 22nd minute
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
PKs
SI (3): Jack Galante, Christian Telles, Daniel Fernandez
ND (4): Lucas Beebe, Jack Immesoete, Kevin Wiles, McKay LaHood
7th shooter LaHood sends Irish to AA state finals
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Past Novembers have featured plenty of big victories in the LaHood family.
Friday afternoon, McKay LaHood, of Notre Dame (Peoria) used the soccer ball instead of the ballot box to make his impact.
LaHood, whose father Darrin faces re-election Tuesday to the U.S. House of Representatives, provided a prelude to that likely victory party by igniting a celebration for the Irish (23-2-0) in the Class AA semifinals against St. Ignatius (16-8-0).
In a penalty kick session dominated by goalkeepers Alec Beckwith, of St. Ignatius, and Kevin Wiles, Notre Dame (who saw half of the 14 shots become unsuccesful), seventh shooter LaHood’s PK finish finally earned the Irish a 4-3 edge in the session and a berth in the state title game at 1 p.m. Saturday against Crystal Lake South.
“A couple of guys missed, and I knew I had to step up,” said LaHood, whose PK conversion ended a streak of four-straight unsuccessful tries by the two teams. “But a big shout out to Kev (Wiles). He’s been our backup goalie and came up huge making three saves (in PKs). That was unbelievable.”
An October injury to Lucas Fontana shifted ex-forward Wiles into the role of goalkeeper, a position he had played as a sophomore.
Friday, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Wiles did it all in the PK session. As a shooter, he converted for a 3-2 Irish lead. And he allowed only three of seven Wolfpack PKs past, with diving saves on the last two shooters.
“I’m confident in the direction I go,” Wiles said, “and if I guess it, I’m definitely going to get to the ball and make that save.
“I have a good goalie coach in Mark Streid, and me and our other goalie Charlie Lawless have been working really hard. Hard work pays off I guess.”
St. Ignatius battled hard to earn its first trip to the state semifinals in five years. Facing a talented Irish team that has won three state titles since 2008, the Wolfpack overcame a rough start to produce a marquee performance.
Notre Dame came inches from grabbing the lead six minutes in when a cross to the box sprung loose and a Declan Dillon shot towards an open net was cleared off the goal line by St. Ignatius senior defender Jack Galante.
Surviving that scare, the Wolfpack took a 1-0 lead with 22:30 left in the first half on Danny Fernandez’s rebound goal of Keith Bevans’ header off the crossbar.
And after Notre Dame drew even 93 seconds later on Noah Madrigal’s 40th goal of 2018, St. Ignatius stayed toe-to-toe with the Irish over the next 79 minutes of soccer (regulation and two overtimes) and the tight PK session.
“Our quote was ‘Play the team on the field, not the team’s reputation,’” Beckwith said of facing talented and tradition-rich Notre Dame, the top team in Chicagoland Soccer's Illinois 10 poll and nationally ranked at no. 8 by Top Drawer Soccer.
“We’re just high school kids playing high school kids. Just play the kids in front of you. And that’s exactly what we did. It seemed to work out pretty well for us.”
The highlight came on Fernandez’s seventh goal of the season.
That finish culminated a play that began with senior reserve Billy Kacey’s nice send to the box, which Bevans headed off the crossbar and Fernandez hustled to put away.
“Billy’s a guy who can play defense and wing,” St. Ignatius coach Ryan Kearns said. “He put that ball up for Keith and we were able to finish it on the second try. All these guys from 1-23 are quality guys, a pleasure to work with.
“We knew this was a game going down to the wire, where we would need legs towards the end. So we were using guys on the wings as much as possible, to try to exploit PND because they pushed their outside backs up so high.”
Besides Madrigal’s point-blank putaway at the right post off a Lucas Beebe diagonal send from the left side, Beckwith and the Wolfpack defense met every challenge all night.
“The fact that we’ve been playing together since sophomore year really helps our chemistry,” St. Ignatius senior defender Christian Telles said. “Alec really communicates well with us, and we really know how to build from the back up using our midfield.”
Limiting Madrigal’s chances was the main task.
“We played Solorio (in the sectional final), the defending state champion, and they had an attacker no. 7 (Alejandro Sanchez) that we focused on (in a 5-2 win),” Telles said.
“We knew their best player today was no. 10, so we just treated them like Solorio and basically got the job done.”
In an active first half for both sides, St. Ignatius’ offense nearly struck again 9:40 before halftime. Set up by passes from Chris Braman and then Jaden Rice, Fernandez’s 30-yard drive went off the crossbar.
Beckwith followed 25 seconds later with a diving save on a Madrigal 15-yarder, then made the stop on Brody Seaton’s 10-yard header flick 3:30 before the half.
“The first 5-10 minutes was rough for us,” Kearns said. “A lot of that was anxiety, and a lack of confidence that we could possess around a quality team like PND.
“Once we figured that out we were right back in the game, and when we scored first that gave us so much energy and momentum towards controlling the ball better the rest of the game. I thought we did a great job defensively, a great job through the midfield, and put a ton of pressure on their keeper.”
That pressure resumed with 27:05 left in the second half, when Telles’ strong left-footed 35-yard free kick deflected towards the net and required a leaping deflection over the crossbar by Wiles.
After Madrigal lined a 22-yard free kick wide left three minutes later, quality chances were few for either side the rest of regulation.
An Aidan Hurst two-hop try from distance with 19:20 left was the last Wolfpack shot on goal for over 15 minutes, a drought ended by Wiles’ catch at the post of a Hurst shot with 3:40 to play in regulation.
“Aidan is a heck of a player,” Kearns said. “When he’s at 100 percent and can put himself out there on the field, he really makes people look silly sometimes and is really smooth. And he’s only a sophomore too.”
The Wolfpack then nearly produced an incredible finish with just 2:05 left, when Bevans’ powerful back-to-the-goal bicycle kick on a cross sailed just wide of the right post.
“They were a great team,” Irish coach Mike Bare said of St. Ignatius. “Coming into it we talked to a couple different coaches and they said: they’re solid all over; they play really hard; they don’t make many mistakes; their goalkeeper is solid. And that’s what we saw tonight. Two really teams going at it.
“Offensively they were a lot to handle,” Bare added. “They have some really good athletes in no. 9 (Matt Griffin) and no. 15 (Bevans) up-top. We knew that coming into the game, and they caused us some problems.”
After 80 minutes of regulation, the two sides were tied 1-1 and just getting started in a marathon battle.
Beckwith and Wiles had matching saves from distance in the first 10-minute overtime.
In a more wide open second OT, Rice’s long send 40 seconds in set up a Griffin right side shot that rolled just wide of the left post for St. Ignatius. Then with 2:45 to go, Tal Malven’s nice send to the box set up a Bevans header that Wiles leaped to snare just under the crossbar near the right post.
Fernandez’s clear of an Irish corner kick with 10 seconds left produced the PK session, which was almost a game unto itself.
Notre Dame took a 3-2 lead after fourth shooter Wiles’ conversion. But Fernandez tied the session 3-3, and potential clinching shooter Madrigal’s try went wide right.
The PK battle moved to sudden death, with sixth shooter saves by both goalkeepers adding to the maximum drama.
“In penalties I think we had three chances to win it,” Bare said. “We had our best penalty shooter in Noah Madrigal, an all-American up for our fifth shot to win it.
“He never misses, but I think he may have seen the goalie (Beckwith) start to go that way. He maybe tried to tuck it even more to the corner and missed it wide.”
Coming off a supersectional shutout of Washington , Beckwith again showed incredible cool under pressure.
“I love PKss,” said Beckwith, whose team had won the Wolfpack’s only previous PK session this fall. “They’re my favorite part of soccer, especially with a crowd like today. If you make one save, they go nuts.
“It’s just like we do in practice. Get out there, make the save, cool, calm head, see what we can do to read them (the shooters) and do my thing.”
On to the seventh shooter, Wiles made another diving save to keep the session tied 3-3.
“He (Wiles) really surprised me on the penalties,” Kearns said. “He was a very good penalty keeper. He looked very clean, and even finished one as well.”
Said Bare: “Kevin was phenomenal. And he’s our backup who got moved into the starting role in early October when our starter injured his shoulder.
“He was our starting goalkeeper as a sophomore, then Lucas took that spot from him about midseason. Kevin had been playing as a field player ever since, then we transitioned him back to goal. It’s a really cool story for a kid who got his spot back because of an injury and made the most of it tonight.”
Beckwith had denied three of the last four Irish shooters, but seventh Notre Dame shooter LaHood’s high drive inside the right post ended the dramatic battle for a state finals berth.
We weren’t sure where things were going to go,” Bare said, “then we got a third opportunity to win it (in PKs) with McKay LaHood, and he was able to put it away.
Said Wiles: “Mac (LaHood) stepped up He scores a lot of goals for our team (13 this season).”
The win marked the first PK session of the year for the Irish.
“We always try to think we’re the better team when we walk in,” Wiles said. “We’re confident. We didn’t expect it would go all the way to pens (PK’s), but we’re confident in our pens. And some guys stepped up.”
From a family used to the long grind of fall political campaigns, LaHood cast soccer’s version of a deciding vote Friday.
“We just tried to play our style of play, but there was a lot of emotion in this game,” said LaHood, whose grandfather Ray also had a long career in Congress and later served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation. “In a state semifinal game that’s what is going to happen. We’re just happy to get the win.
“We play a really tough schedule throughout the year. We played Milwaukee Marquette, Naperville North. I feel like we’ve seen everything that can be thrown at us. That really prepares us for the postseason.”
As for St. Ignatius’ postseason, Friday’s narrow loss hardly dims the memories of an incredible ride – which continues one more time at 1 p.m. Saturday in the AA third place match.
“It’s been awesome,” Beckwith said. “First of all, we didn’t think coming into the season in general that state was even a possibility. On a night like tonight to be out there with all those people was magic.
“We didn’t get the result, but that’s alright. We’ll be out here tomorrow for third place, and it’s been awesome. I love playing with these guys. And this last game will be one to remember, to take home a trophy.”
Regardless of Friday’s outcome, Beckwith and the Wolfpack continued to impress their coach.
“Alec has this unique personality, to keep things calm and collected at all times,” Kearns said. “Even after the loss, he’s smiling, and he said ‘We were in it the whole time. There’s nothing else we could have done.’ He has a great mentality, a great approach to the game.
“I’m really proud of my guys. Nothing to be ashamed of, we played a really quality team right down to the end.”
As for Saturday, Kearns said the chance to be one of just two AA teams to finish 2018 with a win is all the motivation needed.
“We have a lot more to prove tomorrow,” he said. “I want to come out firing on all cylinders. These guys are something special, and I want to squeak out as much time as I can with them. An extra 80 minutes is a blessing.”
The Wolfpack graduated 13 seniors from their 2017 team, but this year's group of veteran leaders helped the program return to state prominence.
“We never really thought we’d make it to state," senior defender Christian Telles said. "We had a pretty rocky start (3-2 record after five games) because we didn’t really connect at the beginning.
"Then after a couple of games our chemistry really rose, and our younger kids (three sophomores and three juniors) really played mature during the state run. I’m really proud of them. Some of them had never played a varsity game before this year.”
Having survived Friday’s epic battle, Notre Dame has plenty of fuel left for its 1 p.m. state final test against Crystal Lake South.
“We’ll be good,” Wiles said. “It’s tough to not have enough energy to come out and play for a state title.”
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK Alec Beckwith
D Ethan Belnap
D Christian Telles
D Jack Galante
M Ronan Sullivan
M Daniel Fernandez
M Tal Malven
M Mark Kirby
M Jaden Rice
F Matt Griffin
F Keith Bevans
Notre Dame (Peoria)
GK Kevin Wiles
D Alex Kott
D Brody Seaton
D Michael Merheb
D Ethan Miller
M Jack Immesoete
M McKay LaHood
M Lucas Beebe
M Declan Dillon
F Jake Cusack
F Noah Madrigal
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Kevin Wiles, sr. GK, Notre Dame (Peoria)
Scoring summary
First half
SI – Daniel Fernandez (rebound), 18th minute
ND – Noah Madrigal (Lucas Beebe assist), 22nd minute
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
PKs
SI (3): Jack Galante, Christian Telles, Daniel Fernandez
ND (4): Lucas Beebe, Jack Immesoete, Kevin Wiles, McKay LaHood